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Dharmendra Jore: Disaster strikes twice, is anyone awake yet?

Updated on: 29 May,2017 07:09 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Dharmendra Jore | dharmendra.jore@mid-day.com

Following two consecutive helicopter incidents involving the chief minister within a month, the aviation machinery might want to reanalyse the state of its fleet before subjecting the CMâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088to these avoidable dangers

Dharmendra Jore: Disaster strikes twice, is anyone awake yet?

Disaster management is a discipline. People are trained scientifically in prepping to avoid disasters, and handle them with least resistance when they strike hard. But the state machinery does not seem to have learnt its lesson still when it comes to securing the people in general and the VVIPs in particular. Last week's crash-landing of the CM's helicopter in Latur's rural Nilanga raises a question - do we take such matters too lightly?


It was sheer luck that the six people on that craft - including CM Devendra Fadnavis -survived. A layperson like me should avoid discussing technical aspects while experts are probing the incident, but as a journalist, I have my own experiences of flying with VVIP politicians on a helicopter and small aircraft when reporting on elections rallies and government functions. In those, I have observed things such as faulty selection of sites for constructing makeshift helipads and selection of short-strips for landing small aircraft.


During the electioneering of 2014, it was again somewhere in the Nilanga tehsil that the pilots of our chopper had a tough time negotiating power lines while taking off. Even the helipad was surrounded on three sides by a school building. The same month, on a campaign trail with a senior leader, we landed near a temple with thousands of people surrounding the helipad. The distance between the machine and the crowd was not more than 50 feet. On another tour, we had to abort take-off from Latur because of an oil leak, spotted only thanks to one of the veteran pilots who noticed a drop or two under the chopper's belly.


Compromise on maintenance?
Nilanga's incident raises several doubts over the maintenance of the state's flying machines, and most importantly, technical awareness of the people involved in constructing makeshift helipads. When the probe report comes in, we will also know if the pilots were at fault. But when reacting to the incident, CM's wife Amruta said she expected the state's aviation service to ensure airworthiness of the aircraft that VVIPs use.

Amruta's reproach is justified because just earlier this month, her husband had to abort a take-off from Gadchiroli because of a technical snag that was detected before the helicopter could leave ground. Call him a braveheart then, for even after both these incidents, he travelled in a helicopter the very next day.

What has been worrying the CMO and the police department, which generally looks after protection of VVIPs, is the way state's aviation wing maintains helicopters and other aircraft in the government's stable. Currently, it has two helicopters and two aircraft, of which only one helicopter - Sikorsky S76 CC++ (purchased in 2011 and which crash-landed) - and a business jet - Citation CE - are in service.

Senior officials, in Mantralaya and police, question the rationale behind parking the helicopter at Raj Bhavan's seaside helipad instead of city airports. A bureaucrat who regularly visits Raj Bhavan said that the helicopter was covered with a sheet. "I don't know whether factors such as increasing humidity, high coastal breeze and overall weather conditions while parking the helicopter near the sea were considered," he said, adding that such factors must be affecting the engine and other fitments, although the makers of the helicopter deny such possibility.

Needs better planning
Thursday's incident and Gadchiroli's aborted take-off should serve as an eye-opener for both the CM's tour planners and aviation directorate, said at least three senior bureaucrats and police officials.

Sources added that on Thursday, the CM was to fly a long haul between Nilanga and Mumbai in the helicopter. "This type of planning isn't proper. Ideally, helicopters should only be used for short distances. When we have an airport in Latur, the CM could have taken a jet (official) from there. Travelling long-distance on a chopper is not advisable," said the officer.

In Gadchiroli, where Naxals rule, following the helicopter mishap, the CM had to travel by road, thus risking his life. Later, it was explained that the helicopter had developed a snag because of the scorching heat. But then, isn't it incumbent on the authorities that they consider these factors while planning the tour?
The other thing that the officials want the government to do is decide on a proper set of guidelines to select safe spots to construct helipads in hinterlands. Currently, local revenue and PWD officials do the job, and in many cases, leave scope to doubt their ability in following DGCA guidelines. Private aviation companies should also shoulder blame in this.

Taking corrective steps doesn't look impossible. But unless politicians start taking aviation in such conditions seriously and shed their inhibitions about strict measures shrinking their popularity, things will not improve.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

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